European Union

Das Ukraine-EU-Assoziierungs- sowie das Freihandelsabkommen (DCFTA) werden von der ukrainischen Seite als Schlüssel zur langfristigen Kooperation mit der EU angesehen, erklärte Leonid Kozhara. Dabei stünden auf beiden Seiten wirtschaftliche Interessen im Vordergrund. Die zur Unterzeichnung von der EU geforderten Reformen könnten jedoch nicht kurzfristig umgesetzt werden.

“EU accession talks could start tomorrow,” stated Grubješić, who in addition to being deputy prime minister is her government’s minister for European integration. Major progress has been made on the required reforms. The plan is for entry negotiations to begin this fall – provided that the European Council gives its green light at the end of June. Now, everything hinges on the Kosovo question, as she said in her conversation with DGAP guests and its general secretary, Paul Freiherr von Maltzahn.

European Union member states agreed to establish a European Democracy Fund in order to be able to respond to the political upheavals of the Arab Spring. Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, who chairs the fund’s executive committee, presented the new tool for encouraging democracy and spoke of the opportunities and obstacles faced while setting up the fund. Agnieszka Łada, guest researcher at the DGAP’s Alfred von Oppenheim Center, joined the discussion.

The Western Balkans have always stood at the crossroads of diverse cultures and ethnicities. The tour’s participants saw vibrant cities and met with many active NGOs but also encountered societies whose war wounds are far from healed. Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina still have work ahead of them – in the fight against corruption, in economic development, and in ethnic reconciliation. As the tour heard again and again, the most significant motor of change is the EU accession process.